jobs

If You Can’t Find A Job, Try Creating One

August 3, 2010 by Etha Walters Leave a Comment

Cheese!

It seems that everyone is trying to stretch a penny these days, and for small businesses that can lead to cutbacks or layoffs. Losing a job in a recession is a devastating thing, especially when jobs are scarce. Unemployment will only last for so long and the bills keep coming in. Statistics show that there are 6 unemployed people to every available job. In small towns it can be as many as 20 unemployed to each available position. So what is a person to do?

If you are one of those many Americans who are having trouble finding a job, how about creating your own? This isn’t a strange idea in the face of a recession. Micro-businesses are businesses that have 10 people or less and over half of small businesses in the United States are home based. According to Startupnation, you can not only survive, but thrive in this economy.

Inc Magazine printed a story about CEO Paul Mann who was looking for a responsible dog sitter in a bind. After taking some observations of the people who responded to his ad, he felt a little discouraged in finding someone he could trust. That is when a light went on in Paul Mann’s head. He ended up leaving his corporate position for the comforts of working from home and started Fetch! Pet Care, a local network of pet sitters and dog walkers. If you asked him today if he would go back out into the world of glass doors and windows, his answer would be a very enthusiastic “no!”

The advantages of a home business include low over-head, tax deductions, shoe-string start up capabilities, and you can work in your pajamas. All you need is a phone line, high-speed internet, a place to keep records and a really great idea for a product or service that people need even if there is an economic downturn. While no one will tell you that starting a home business is easy, with a little research and a lot of hard work you might be able to give yourself a job.

Looking for a GeoVison Security Camera System to help secure your small or medium business? Call www.CameraSecurityNow.com today at 877-422-1907 for a free phone consultation. Ask about the new Hybrid DVR/NVR surveillance solutions.

Under the Gun: You’ve been written up twice or been told-you’re next-what do you do?

May 19, 2010 by admin Leave a Comment

It is truly something that most of us do not want to think about; “you’re not cutting it here and we are giving you fair warning.” I know three people that were in this situation in the last few years, and I was in this situation early in my career. What do you do?

Case one) a professor has been told that his contract will not be renewed. This person has taught at the same place for very many years and is just three years from retirement. A new chairperson (who is not returning) has decided that this person has got to go.

This entire situation is insane from both perspectives. The professor is shell shocked, is over 40, and has taught at this particular school for over 20 years. His evaluations have been very sketchy and not well followed up on by the new chairperson; in fact, the chairman has only visited his class room once! This situation cries out for an unjust firing/age discrimination suit. The school is extremely exposed! On the other hand, the professor has been in denial. He has not sought out legal representation nor has he asked for a job reference (this is a negotiation tool). He has asked for another assignment but that request has been denied twice.

Case two) a long time employee (purchasing agent) is being pressured and has received a second warning about job performance. This person is most meticulous and cares deeply about giving excellent service, yet this person is experiencing extreme pressure from his boss and HR.

Case three) a very average customer service agent has been told that his job performance over the last few years has been lacking (and he has had confrontations with sales staff), and his supervisor has decided that if another reduction in force (staff reduction) should happen, that he will be the first person laid off (and will not be eligible to be rehired-in the very unlikely event this might happen). This does not exempt him from being terminated for cause if his performance should drop any further, but if it remains the same, he is advised that he will be first in line to go.

Let’s face the facts; it does not get any worse than this. Frankly all situations are similar in that none of these situations are salvageable. One might say couldn’t the person in the second example save his job with superior performance? Again sadly the answer is no.

Let review what might be done:

In situation one, the person has the beginnings of an age discrimination suit. He is over 40, and the school has done very shoddy due diligence. At this point in time and in all the situations, you need to start negotiations for what you can salvage, and face the fact that none of these negotiable items are your current job! In situation one this person definitely needs to consult with a legal professional! What should he go for: A good work reference and maybe his last 3 years salary as a payout with full benefits? He might also threaten to take the suit “public” as most schools hate bad publicity.

Situation two differs) the organization has dotted its “I” ‘s and crossed its “T” ‘s. Earlier I stated the employee is very professional (I have worked with this person before), and this does not describe her work. Frankly, this situation does not seem to be about job performance although job performance is being cited. There is something about this person her boss does not like, and frankly she will probably never know what truly was the problem. She has very smartly re-done her resume, contacted recruiters, and started to network both socially and professionally. The last thing she should do is gain some references from people inside the company who are allies, and should do this at the appropriate time.

Situation three) this person has been found wanting by his boss, not enough to be terminated but enough to be expendable. The company is contracting and another reduction in force will come at some point. If this person was well regarded in this company he might try to transfer departments, but he is not well liked and has had confrontations with other departments, nor will his boss recommend him for another post inside the company; further, many of his old allied have left the company for various reasons. This person really has no choice, he must depart the company. What he does have is time; time to look for a new start or maybe continue his education at the current company’s expense. If the company is paying for his education, he might prove to be an unappealing target if the company has sunk $20,000.00 into his education and bought his masters! Will this save him, probably not, but it does make him a more unappealing target at least to high level personnel people!

So if you find yourself under the gun, here are some positive ways to handle the situation: if you are immediately in danger of losing your job and you think its unfair at least speak with a labor attorney. If you are well thought of inside your company consider a lateral move if you are eligible. If you are not able to move inside the company, recruit allies (you can trust) and get references. Become an unappealing target, have the company start buying your education, a masters, or an appealing professional certificate. Mostly importantly plan your next move, keep your resume up to date, network both socially and professionally, and contact recruiters.

Most of all good luck!
(situations have been altered to protect the parties involved)

Time to get involved

May 14, 2010 by admin Leave a Comment

If you are like me, the prospect of more election commercials elicits only one thing from me: An oncoming migraine! There was one fact that did catch my eye in the Cincinnati Enquirer: Since Ted Strickland took over being Governor, Ohio has lost 430,000 jobs, ouch! But is this all Strickland’s fault, probably not?

According to a report by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Ohio lost 236,000 jobs from 2000-2007. http://www.amtacdc.org/SiteCollectionDocuments/Ohio-jobs-AMTAC%20%282%29.pdf

So this can’t all be laid at Ted Strickland’s doorstep, however; unemployment in February was 10.9 percent, personal income declined from 4Q 2009 from $33,289 to $32,467-clearly Ohio is going in the wrong direction!

http://jec.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?a=Files.Serve&File_id=1f3c128c-8d97-4bde-b866-12d33291880c

So let me just lay out the “elephant in the room” that everyone seems to want to ignore: There are millions of Americans that are unemployed, underemployed or are “discouraged workers.” (Here’s a discussion of what a discouraged worker is and how it affects unemployment).

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-01-09/shrinking-u-s-labor-force-keeps-unemployment-rate-from-rising.html

Did anyone else see the true unemployment rate of 17.3 %? That is a staggering figure! Its great how all, and I mean all, the politicians want to talk about having high tech green energy (Can we throw in another political hot button word here?) jobs for young people-great I am all for that, but there are millions of people in the 17.3 %, that are still of working age, that want and frankly need jobs!
Many of them are accountants, bankers, computer programmers, purchasing agents, copy writers, and research analysts, these are skilled educated people who have been victims of outsourcing and off-shoring just as much as any union factory worker, what about them? Truly what about them!

So it might greatly behoove us all to get involved in politics. Its time to start asking the right questions, demand town hall meetings and real answers to real questions! Our careers are on the line here, whether your lefty or righty get involved, and by all means vote, but vote for people who truly want to serve our interests whether owner, manager or employee-I implore you, get involved! It at least cured my headache, and by the way, I have a State Representative that I need to register a complaint-there migraine averted, better than aspirin!

What Kind of Employee Are You?

March 23, 2010 by admin Leave a Comment

Usually this blog has a viewpoint from an ownership perspective, but in the final analysis we all work for ourselves-no matter the deal we’ve cut with our employer. So, it’s good from time to time to evaluate just what kind of employee are you? There are certainly some very fine lines being drawn (even though HR managers and agency counselors tend to deny it). I think for myself I have narrowed it down to 5 types of employee, and only one of these types is desirable. The five types are: highly valued employee, temporary employee, contract employee, casual hire employee, and disposable (planned short time) employee. In these uncertain economic times, it’s good to figure out just where you stand.

The highly valued employee is someone who may have been recruited off campus or military. The company might have gone through an executive search firm and paid big money to bring this person into the business. These people are expected to provide leadership, management, and specialized skills. If recruited out of school they might have been offered top wages and the “fast track.” If this is not you, I must sadly ask you to read on. If this is you, terrific and congratulations!

The temporary employee has really only one advantage, they know that they are temporary. This gives a “temp” a lot of flexibility. Turn over for temps is extremely high and work quality is usually fair at best. (Yes, I know there are some temps that get in and do a superb job, but they are the exception to the rule-and this is becoming more prevalent). Agency Counselors have tried to improve the level of work by often stating or insinuating that this job is/could be temporary to permanent (temp to perm), but experienced temps have become very inquisitive about this situation. Before I started a new assignment I always went over this with the company when they asked if I had any questions. “Is it correct that this job could become permanent?” Boy, listen to the company back track! If they do, you should suspect that your counselor might be engaged in a little “puffery.” If however, the company lays out a plan for your hire (assuming all goes well both for yourself and the company-and it is budgeted), then you just might have a temp to perm position, if this is not the case, keep sending out your resume’ and doing interviews, (even during work time), because your life expectancy is short as a temp.

Contract employees generally fill a very specific niche in a company’s employment structure, and are generally contracted to do a certain job function for a certain length of time (the due date). Almost always these personnel contribute specific business expertise or knowledge. These people are generally treated fairly well (unlike temp’s who can really be treated poorly). Unlike temps, contractors generally do a very professional job, but most “have been around the block a few times.” Contractors will sometimes speed up or slow down a particular job to suit their own needs (I know, I did it-and I was not alone, in fact very far from being alone). This happens especially with a “soft due date.” On the other hand, there can be problems if a “hard due date” is assigned, and then it is extended since contract employees are always looking for their next contract position. Companies have had contractors leave right before a huge project is due!

The casual hire is a person that generally works for a company part time with limited benefits. They must not exceed a certain number of hours or be considered full time (and offered health care benefits and retirement plans). Since these employees are offered very little, turn over is very high. The goal of most casual hire employees is to find a full time job somewhere (else). From the company’s viewpoint, these employees can be added or subtracted as business dictates.

The most recent type of employee is the short time hire (or disposable employee). These people work directly for the company, but what they don’t know is that they have a limited shelf life. What the company gets is more loyalty and better work quality, but they pay more for it-briefly. This situation usually happens when a part of a company-say the credit /collection/AR department is moved from one part of the country or another. Millions of dollars of receivables are transferred to a different location, and more personnel are hired to handle the in flow of receivables. After this business is mastered (and it might take 18 months to 2 years), there wont be a need for so many A/R type people, so the company may (or may not) keep the best, and lay off the rest.

It’s good to know who and what you are to your company. Going back to the macro-view of this blog, America has lost some of its appeal around the world for producing the best quality and most innovative products at the lowest possible prices. President Obama has stated many times that it is his great desire to return this prestige to America. Well, Mr. President let me clue you in on one thing. America is never going return to prominence as long as we remain a nation of temps, contractors, casual, and short time hires.

SMBs are Hiring

March 7, 2010 by Sarah Leave a Comment

New data suggests the smallest businesses in the country are beginning to add new jobs and some experts say that’s a great sign for bigger companies. This info comes despite a March 5th report from the Labor Department that suggests the United States is still losing jobs.

Intuit released some information on March 1st that suggests companies with less than 20 employees have been adding new jobs since June 2009. That’s based on the 50,000 customers using their online payroll service. Also, after two years of decline, the average paycheck amount for someone working for a company of less than 100 employees is beginning to stabilize over the last three months, and in some cases, is increasing. This includes data from salary, hourly, and contract workers. That information came out on March 3rd from a company called SurePayroll.

The numbers look like this: since June, employment at small businesses as been growing at 1.1% annual rate. With that information, Intuit suggests 150,000 jobs have been created by companies with fewer than 20 employees since June. That includes 40,000 last month alone. Granted that’s a long way from re-employing the 8.4 million who have lost jobs since December 2007, but it’s still a start and it’s left some people pretty hopeful.

Brian Headd, an economist at the Small Business Administration says this is a potentially good sign. He says that in 2002, recovery began when small businesses began hiring before larger companies did and in some cases when larger companies were still losing jobs. According to census data from 2006, companies of 20 or less employees make up 89% of all businesses and 18% of the private workforce.

Meanwhile, Congress is working on a number of different bills in an effort to put people back to work and one way they’re trying to do that is tax incentives. Last week, the House passed a bill that gives employers who hire people who have been out of work for two months a year free from paying the Social Security payroll tax. John Bishop of Cornell University has proposed a hiring tax credit that he says could will encourage about two million jobs in the next year. But a lot small businesses don’t wait on the government to pass bills before they hire and don’t sit around, waiting for incentives.

For example, Michael McKean, the CEO of the Knowland Group in McLean, VA told Business Week he has already hired ten people this year and hopes to hire about six more. The company makes sales, marketing, and lead generation products to help hotels attract conferences and events. He says he believes the industry is due to pick up soon and knows he can increase his credit line

Official data from the Labor Department about hiring won’t be available for several months, but if history is any indication, this data is good news. Companies with less than 500 employees have made up 64% of new jobs created between 1993 and 2008 and it looks like that trend will continue.